Industrial and commercial floors are cleaned on a regular basis for aesthetic and sanitary purposes. There are many types of industrial and commercial floors ranging from hard surfaces such as concrete, terrazzo, wood, and the like, which can be found in factories, schools, hospitals, and the like, to softer surfaces such as carpeted floors found in restaurants and offices. Different types of floor cleaning machines such as scrubbers, sweepers, and extractors, have been developed to properly clean and maintain these different floor surfaces.
For example, a typical industrial or commercial scrubber is a walk-behind or drivable, self-propelled, wet process machine that applies a liquid cleaning solution from an on-board cleaning solution tank onto the floor through nozzles. Rotating brushes forming part of the scrubber agitate the solution to loosen dirt and grime adhering to the floor. The dirt and grime become suspended in the solution, which is collected by a vacuum squeegee fixed to a rearward portion of the scrubber and deposited into an onboard recovery tank.
Floor cleaning machines can also be designed as unmanned, robotic units that operate autonomously. However, there are particular challenges in automating the cleaning process of an autonomous scrubber, particularly for large, industrial or commercial floor cleaning machines that can be employed unsupervised in areas where there is pedestrian traffic. In addition to providing an adequate guidance or navigation system that prevents the unmanned, robotic unit from engaging objects or entering prohibited areas, the cleaning operation itself must be managed to ensure the unmanned, robotic unit is actually performing the cleaning operation as intended. Similarly, during manned operation of floor cleaning machines, it can sometimes be difficult for the operator to visually or manually recognize a potential deficiency in the cleaning process.